College Basketball Roundup : Missouri Answers Call, Upsets Top-Ranked Oklahoma, 97-84

The long arm of Norm Stewart reached out to the seventh-ranked Missouri Tigers Saturday.

With Missouri trailing top-ranked Oklahoma by a point at halftime, the Missouri coach, who is recovering from cancer surgery, made a telephone call to acting coach Rich Daly.

The Tigers responded with a 12-2 run at the start of the second half and toppled Oklahoma, 97-84, in a Big Eight Conference game at Columbia, Mo., as Byron Irvin scored 34 points.

“Norm called me at halftime and said I wasn’t having enough fun out there,” Daly said. “He said we weren’t running the offense.

“I know the players went out there and gave everything they had. It was a must win because things hadn’t been going well for us. I told them, ‘I’m going to let you play. You’re going to run up and down the court.’ ”

Oklahoma (24-4 overall, 10-2 in the Big Eight) has held the No. 1 spot for two straight weeks after a stretch of four consecutive weeks when the top-ranked team was defeated.

The Sooners could have clinched their second straight Big Eight title and the top seeding in the league’s postseason tournament with a victory.

Missouri (23-6, 9-3), which trails the Sooners by one game with two remaining, has won 16 straight games at home, including 15 in a row this season.

“In the second half, there was a five- or six-minute spurt in which they just took it to us,” said Oklahoma Coach Billy Tubbs, whose team was the first since Duke to hold the top spot in the poll for two consecutive weeks.

“They were working hard for good shots. It’s hard to miss dunks. I thought there was that one little spot where they took control and kept control. I just thought we faltered in that one little spot.”

Stacey King scored 36 points for Oklahoma.

South Carolina 77, Louisville 73--John Hudson scored 20 points and stripped Tony Kimbro of the ball with one second left as the Gamecocks upset the eighth-ranked Cardinals at Columbia, S.C.

The victory broke South Carolina’s 10-game losing streak against Louisville and was only the second victory in the 13-game series for the Gamecocks (16-9, 6-4).

Pervis Ellison scored 17 points for the Cardinals (19-7, 8-3), but he fouled out with 3:21 remaining.

Barry Manning had 14 for South Carolina.

Indiana 75, Minnesota 62--Joe Hillman scored 15 points, including a basket that started a game-ending 17-4 run, as the fourth-ranked Hoosiers snapped the Gophers’ 12-game homecourt winning streak in the Big Ten Conference game at Minneapolis.

Hillman’s basket with 5:35 left gave Indiana (23-5, 13-1) a 60-58 lead. He added another basket in the streak, while Todd Jadlow, who finished with 17 points, scored five points in the run, and Eric Anderson, who finished with 14, had four.

“I felt we played as well in the second half as we have all year,” Indiana Coach Bob Knight said.

Indiana, which played all but five minutes of the second half without leading scorer Jay Edwards, who was in foul trouble, is the first Big Ten team to beat Minnesota (14-10, 6-8), at Williams Arena this season. The Gophers upset Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio State at home when those teams were ranked in the top 15.

Georgetown 63, St. John’s 55--Charles Smith and Alonzo Mourning scored 14 points each in New York as the Hoyas clinched the Big East regular-season championship.

The Hoyas (22-3 and 12-2) will be the top-seeded team for the conference tournament, which begins March 9 at Madison Square Garden.

This is the third regular-season title for the Hoyas and the earliest any team has clinched the top spot in the conference’s 10-year history.

St. John’s (14-11, 5-9) had its NCAA tournament hopes dashed and is guaranteed its worst-ever conference record. The Redmen were 8-8 in both 1984 and last season.

North Carolina 100, Clemson 86--The fifth-ranked Tar Heels took sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference as Steve Bucknall scored 30 points and made five of eight three-point shots at Chapel Hill, N.C.

“At the half, I told Buck how pleased I was with his defense,” North Carolina Coach Dean Smith said. “I never dreamed he had 30 points. And he didn’t force anything at all.”

North Carolina (24-5, 9-3) is a half-game ahead of North Carolina State after winning its sixth straight. It also was the Tar Heels’ 34th consecutive home victory over Clemson (16-9, 5-7).

Michigan 92, Wisconsin 70--Glen Rice scored 20 of his 38 points as 13th-ranked Michigan hit 70.8% of its shots in the first half of a Big 10 rout of the Badgers at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Rice, who moved past Cazzie Russell into third place on Michigan’s all-time scoring list with 2,176 points, helped Michigan (21-6, 9-5) cruise from the outset, making his first nine shots, including six of seven three-pointers.

Wisconsin (16-7, 7-7), hoping for its first postseason bid since a 1947 NCAA appearance, had its four-game winning streak snapped.

Seton Hall 84, Providence 80--Andrew Gaze hit all six of his three-point shots and scored 26 points as the 15th-ranked Pirates assured themselves of their best season in 36 years with the Big East win over the Friars at East Rutherford, N.J.

John Morton also scored 26 points for Seton Hall (23-5, 10-5). The 23 victories are the Pirates’ most since 1952-53, when they went 31-2 and won the National Invitation Tournament.

Providence is 17-8 and 6-8.

Ball State 76, Eastern Michigan 63--Curtis Kidd scored 25 points, four during a 13-0 run in the first half, and the 20th-ranked Cardinals clinched their first Mid-American Conference title in seven years at Ypsilanti, Mich.

Ball State (23-2, 12-2) dethroned defending champion Eastern Michigan (14-11, 6-8).

Kansas 111, Colorado 83--The Jayhawks snapped an eight-game losing streak with the Big Eight victory over the Buffaloes at Lawrence, Kan., and became only the third school in NCAA history to win 1,400 games.

By snapping its longest skid in 41 years, Kansas (17-11, 4-8) joined Kentucky and North Carolina in the 1,400-win club.

Colorado is 7-18 and 2-10.

Georgia Tech 90, Notre Dame 80--Dennis Scott scored 34 points and Brian Oliver contributed 26 as the Yellow Jackets stormed back from a 17-point deficit to win at Atlanta.

Notre Dame (17-6) jumped to a 10-2 lead and dominated the first half, building a lead of 30-13 when Elmer Bennett made two free throws with 6:55 left in the half.

Georgia Tech, making only seven of 30 shots from the field, trailed at halftime, 41-30, but the Yellow Jackets (19-9) came on strong in the second half, which Scott started with a three-point basket, one of his five. Oliver’s 17-foot jumper tied it, 52-52, with 11:47 left, and Tech never trailed again.

Georgia Tech’s biggest lead was 88-74 with 32 seconds remaining.

Joe Fredrick led Notre Dame with 16 points. Tim Singleton added 14 and LaPhonso Ellis had 13.

Florida 83, Vanderbilt 80--Clifford Lett scored seven points in overtime at Gainesville, Fla., as the Gators rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to win the showdown for first place in the Southeastern Conference.

Vanderbilt (17-11, 11-5) went 11 minutes without a field goal until Frank Kornet hit a shot with 55 seconds left in overtime.

Florida (18-10, 12-4), which won its seventh consecutive game, moved into sole possession of first place in the SEC with its 10th straight conference victory.